Klöckner Pentaplast history

At the end of 1967 Klöckner-Werke AG was deriving 10 percent of its income from products other than coal and steel.

By 1973, the year of the first oil price shock, the postwar boom in steel had given way to recession, and much of the high capacity of new installations was superfluous.

In 1980 Klöckner-Werke AG's finances were still in balance.

In the business year 1989-90, with an operating profit of DM 290 million, the company at last found itself able to pay its shareholders a dividend of DM 5 per DM 50 share, and with good prospects of keeping up the performance.

1992: Klöckner-Werke files for court protection from its creditors and embarks on a drastic debt-restructuring program.

Klöckner-Werke AG also agreed to reduce its workforce by a third, from 6,200 to 4,100, by the end of 1994.

In September 1995, however, the company was reporting a deficit of DM 210 million as the result of losses incurred by its subsidiary, KHS. Shortly thereafter, Hans-Christoph von Rohr resigned as CEO and was replaced by Heinz-Ludwig Schmitz.

In December 1998 the company announced a plan to focus on its films and packaging divisions, and the sale of its car parts business seemed likely.

In an abrupt strategy change, WCM announced plans to sell off Klöckner-Werke's lucrative foil business in May 2001, prompting the resignations of CEO Heinz-Ludwig Schmitz and CFO Siegfried Barschkett.